Abstract of Smith, G.R. Endangered fishes of Michigan. Foreword, pp. 255-259, in D. Evers (ed.) Michigan Endangered Species. Univ. Mich. Press, Ann Arbor, 412 pp.

150 years ago, Michigan's fish resources were unparalleled. Colonization brought with it commercial overharvesting, introductions of alien species, and pollution, leading to declines and extinction of populations and species. The most harmful introductions were the lamprey and alewife; smelt, carp, and salmon also harm native species. When fishermen petitioned the legislature for regultions to save the fishery [for the next generation, they pleaded] in the last century, bankers blocked the conservation measures, seeking to profit from the indebtedness of the fishermen. [Today's commercial fishermen are less in tune with the resource and interests of the next generation and seem more inclined to think like bankers.]